Tour de France 2026 stage 20: Bourg d’Oisans to Alpe d’Huez (170.9km)

Stage 20 of the Tour de France covered a demanding 170.9km from Bourg d’Oisans to the iconic Alpe d’Huez, with a small group off the front and the peloton chasing at a short deficit. Early moves have split the race, with intermittent gaps and the opening major climb already under way.

The race narrative on 25 July 2026 opened with a six-rider move that formed shortly after the start, and the day’s profile features four categorised climbs, including three hors catégorie ascents. The first of those, the Col de la Croix de Fer, stretches for 24km at an average gradient of 5.2%, although substantial portions are steeper than that. Readers wishing to comment were invited to share their thoughts with Tom via email tom.bassam.casual@theguardian.com.

With 157km remaining, Warren Barguil (Picnic PostNL) and Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) had edged clear while Jonas Abrahmsen (Uno-X Mobility) was closing on them; the main bunch sat only 33secs behind. The initial six-man breakaway had formed after three kilometres and contained Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto Intermarche), Joris Delbove (TotalEnergies), Jonas Abrahmsen, Warren Barguil, Xabier Azparren (Pinarello-Q36.5) and Georg Steinhauser.

Baptiste Veistroffer was noted to have dropped back from that early selection, leaving Delbove, Abrahmsen, Barguil, Azparren and Steinhauser to remain out front, though reports indicated they were beginning to fragment. The race situation showed those riders still ahead but not securely together, and the time gap to the peloton remained narrow as the route climbed.

The Col de la Croix de Fer, identified as the first of four categorised climbs on the day, presents a prolonged test: 24km at an average of 5.2% with sections steeper than the mean gradient. That ascent is one of three hors catégorie mountains listed in today’s road book, setting up a high-stakes passage before the finale at Alpe d’Huez.

Race coverage continued to register changing fortunes as the leaders tried to establish a decisive margin while teams in the peloton managed the deficit in anticipation of the tougher terrain to come. Fragmentation of the breakaway suggested the climbing would sort the group further before the decisive kilometres.

The stage finishes atop Alpe d’Huez after 170.9km, and at the moment of the latest report the contest remains active with the small leading group and a closely pursuing peloton. Further developments will determine whether the early escape holds or is swept up before the final ascent.